


roses & sunflowers

by jaemsbaby



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Flowers, Fluff, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Roses, Sunflowers, donghyuck - Freeform, florist lee donghyuck, flower shop, herbarium, nohyuck because why not, tried to be cute i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 13:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18499603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaemsbaby/pseuds/jaemsbaby
Summary: in which all of donghyuck’s flowers wither, except for one.





	roses & sunflowers

donghyuck hated flowers.

 

it’s ironic since the boy owns a flower shop near myeongdong (which, by the way, gives good pay. he’s learned how important location is when you open a store near a densely populated tourist area) and devotes half his lifetime to that small shop.

 

however, the issue is not in the sense of flowers itself. flowers are beautiful, colorful, they smell nice, and they put a smile on donghyuck’s face. the problem is that the flowers aren’t eternal. they always die, their petals always fall, stems wither and become dried up. so when a boy around fourteen years old barges into his store one hot summer day, asking for a small bouquet of flowers that never die, donghyuck is a little taken aback.

 

flowers? they don’t last. they always die.

 

of course, he stops himself from verbalizing this thought and snips the stems of some pretty zinnia flowers, wrapping them into a bow and handing them over to the impatient boy. they’re the longest living flowers donghyuck has.

 

“that will be fifteen thousand won.” the money is thrown on the counter, bells ringing as the glass door is shoved open. he sighs and places the notes into the cash register, before returning to his book, glasses perched on his nose as his eyes scan the words.

 

flowers are the reason donghyuck doesn’t believe in kindness, doesn’t believe in love. after all, nothing on this earth is ever immortal. some things take longer to die out, like trees and rocks, but all life must come to an end. emotions are weird. they are living, breathing parasites that infect one’s body, brain, and heart. they are alive, and in the end, they too must die along with a person’s physical body. yet at the same time, donghyuck doesn’t understand. if a person dies, won’t they take their emotions with them? won’t it still be stored? just because a heart is no longer beating does not mean a person holds the same sentiments within them as when they passed away.

 

but who is donghyuck kidding, he’s just a flower boy trying to graduate from university. the world won’t stop if one person, one type of feeling, barges into his life and-

 

“sorry! hi,” a boy around his age with a messy mop of jet black hair, tips touching his eyes-which are shaped in the most adorable crescents-rushes into the shop. “i’m jeno and i need to order a bouquet.”

 

jeno’s hot. like, unbelievably attractive. he’s wearing a black, loose-fitting muscle tee with blue ripped jeans and black nikes. his arms are toned, not too muscular, not too skinny. jeno is slim with a good body physique, sharp jawline, and a perfect face. so in that instance, donghyuck decides that jeno is a fuckboy.

 

the decision is a little rash on his part, but donghyuck continues to speak with a straight face. “hi. how can i help you.”

 

“do you have roses?” jeno asks, eyes widening. he’s staring straight at the flower boy behind the counter, and donghyuck feels a little intimidated.

 

“y-yeah, of course, we do,” he stutters. _get it together, hyuck!_

 

“i need a medium bouquet of red roses, tied with a red string if that’s not too much? i’ll come to pick them up in two days! thank you!!” jeno places a wad of cash on the counter and leaves as fast as he entered. donghyuck picks up the money, realizing that the boy had paid thirty thousand won for a bouquet of flowers that was twenty.

 

_i’ll just give it back to him in two days._

 

true to his word, jeno arrives back at the store in exactly two days. this time he’s wearing a yellow t-shirt with black jeans and a white hat. it seems like a horrid outfit choice, but donghyuck has already decided that jeno would probably look good in a trash bag.

 

for some reason, the quietness in the shop is unbearable as donghyuck goes behind the store to retrieve the bouquet he made. contrary to what he would usually do, he makes small talk as he gets out.

 

“here you go! if you don’t mind me asking, who are the flowers for?” jeno smiles and his eyes disappear, melting donghyuck’s heart. _okay. so maybe he isn’t a fuckboy?_

 

“my mom! she’s currently in the hospital so i just wanted to do a little something for her.” the flower boy’s heart warms up at this, the thought of someone caring and loving for him. he smiles. “i hope she gets well soon, then.”

 

“thank you!!”

 

“oh, and you paid too much the other day. here’s your ten thousand won back,” donghyuck humbly pushes the money across the counter, but jeno shakes his head. “take it. i’ll probably come back soon anyway.” then he winks and leaves not only the shop, but donghyuck’s emotions a mess.

 

donghyuck thinks that flowers shops and people tend to be a one-time thing. people don’t usually return to the same shop to get another bouquet-flowers are flowers, so why should it matter? in fact, he’s never had a customer return to his shop more than twice. that is, until lee jeno.

 

 

 

 

 

he learns the latter’s last name is identical to his the third time jeno comes, not even a week later. donghyuck laughs, “you must live around here, huh?” that was the only reason he could think of for jeno coming back a second time. but jeno shakes his head.

 

“no, actually. i live in gangnam. but my mom’s hospital is nearer to here.”

 

donghyuck has never been good at reading people, but he swears he sees the slightest glint of nervousness in jeno’s eyes. deciding to shove it aside-confrontation isn’t his thing-he simply hums.

 

“alright then. what flowers can i get you this time?”

 

“r-roses? again, perhaps? my mom likes roses a lot.”

 

“okay. what’s her last name? i can write a little note.”

 

slightly alarmed, jeno shakes his head. “it’s okay!! i-i can write it.” donghyuck just blinks at the latter before nodding. “but uh… my last name, it’s lee.”

 

“oh? same. i’m lee donghyuck,” the flower boy says as he’s bending to cut the stems of the roses. he carefully arranges the individual flowers together before tying it up with a red satin ribbon. he’s aware of how jeno is looking at him, and a part of him wants to snap his head up and stare back.

 

“what do you think of dead flowers?” jeno suddenly blurts.

 

“you’re asking a flower boy what he thinks about dead flowers,” donghyuck deadpans, though a small part of him is trying not to laugh.

 

“sorry. stupid question,” jeno hangs his head and avoids eye contact with the boy behind the counter.

 

“hey,” donghyuck begins, a tinge of guilt twisting in his chest. “no question is stupid. flowers are pretty. i prefer them alive, but they’re beautiful either way.” he resists the urge to continue, _like you_.

 

the corners of jeno’s lips lift up. “t-that’s good. i mean-i, i’ll see you soon flower boy!!”

 

donghyuck resists the urge to smile but fails terribly so.

 

 

 

 

 

jeno becomes a frequent visitor of the shop, buying other flowers from donghyuck as well, from forget-me-nots to camelias and daffodils and poppies and daisies. donghyuck informs the smiling boy that sunflowers are his favorite, and jeno in turn buys a whole bouquet of them. the flower boy starts to suspect that the flowers aren’t really for anyone, but he likes the company and he’s glad that someone’s enjoying flowers as much as he does.

 

“do you know what a herbarium is?” jeno asks one day. it’s been a month since he first stepped into the shop, but it’s still summer and the sun is scorching. the two are seated at the counter, sipping on ice-cold lemonade while on the lookout for any customers. jeno’s hair is dyed a light brown (he also helped donghyuck dye his a dark brown) and he’s wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts, and white shoes. he looks up to donghyuck, waiting for an answer.

 

“i think so? isn’t it like, a collection of dead flowers?”

 

“yeah, that’s the idea. it’s used to research on flowers but i think they’re really pretty.”

 

“you have a thing for dead flowers, don’t you?” donghyuck jokes.

 

“i also have a thing for you,” jeno says, his voice lowering ever so slightly.

 

 _oh._ he feels the redness creeping up to his neck, and before jeno can run away, donghyuck grabs jeno’s hand. “you didn’t let me answer.”

 

“i didn’t ask a question,” the boy says, voice wavering.

 

“would you like to ask it now?”

 

jeno’s eyes shine with both hope and embarrassment, but he shakes his head, “not here. not now.”

 

 

 

 

 

so donghyuck waits it out. he waits because jeno asks him to. the latter returns again a week later, buying a bouquet of daisies, before giggling and tugging on the flower boy’s hand. it’s five in the afternoon and the sun's about to set anyways, but donghyuck doesn’t close the shop till eight in the evening, and he’s skeptical to leave the store unattended.

 

“wait-jeno, i need to handle the shop-”

 

“just flip the sign!! i promise it won’t be long.”  


“jeno, you live in gangnam.”

 

“we’re not going there, just please let me lead the way.”

 

donghyuck huffs. “okay. but can we get food after?”

 

jeno smiles.  


they arrive at an apartment complex, just a few minutes away from the flower shop. donghyuck furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “wait, i thought you said you lived in gangnam?”

 

the crescent-eyed boy gives a sheepish smile. “okay, so maybe i told a little white lie. i do live here, but my mom is the one who lives in gangnam. the first time i arrived at the shop, she was hospitalized for two days. i kept coming back because, well… you’re you, lee donghyuck.”

 

the said boy smiles a little. “what’s that supposed to mean?” jeno pulls on donghyuck’s wrist. they enter the apartment, press the elevator button to go up. “jeno-”

 

“you know how i asked if you liked dead flowers?” the elevator rises up only two levels before stopping. the two boys walk out, donghyuck still confused.

 

“yeah?”

 

“well…” jeno fumbles with his key, finally unlocking the door. he ushers the flower boy in, and donghyuck’s jaw drops.

 

it’s ethereal. every single flower jeno has bought from his flower shop, his small store, has been hung upside down on the ceiling of the apartment. they’re wrapped in small trios, their stems hanging down by a piece of rope. the flowers are dried up, their petals desaturated and withered, but somehow donghyuck finds it beautiful. the entire living space smells like sweet flowers, and there are so many types too-from the roses to the daffodils, to the forget-me-nots. and then donghyuck sees the corner with a bouquet of sunflowers in a tall glass vase, almost tucked into the corner of the room, in between the wall and the couch.

 

“y-you said sunflowers were your favorite types of flowers,” jeno says from behind him. the tanned boy turns around to see jeno’s face blushing red, his eyes sparkling with shyness. “i decided to actually grow those. you’re bright, like a sunflower and i decided i don’t want to see them die just yet.”

 

“flowers always die,” donghyuck weakly responds.

 

“i know. but i’m hoping to spend a lot of time with this one," jeno says, nudging the boy.

 

a faint smile. a chuckle. a sigh of relief.

 

the sun is setting and a beautiful golden glow is setting on jeno’s face. his eyes are sparkling more than ever, and donghyuck can’t help but be enthralled to the boy. his eyes look over jeno’s adorable crescent-shaped eyes, his soft, baby skin, his sharp jawline, and then-donghyuck gulps-his eyes settle on the latter’s lips.

 

donghyuck spares a glance back at jeno’s eyes, startled to see the boy staring straight at him. he smiles. “is there anything you need, hyuck?”

 

the said boy turns red and immediately turns around. “n-nope! nothing here, i-”

 

jeno turns him around by the waist and donghyuck finds himself only a few centimeters away from jeno. he can smell the sweet lavender scent that he realized the latter always smelled like. it brings him a sense of coming home, a warm feeling blooms through his chest, his brain thinking of a million outcomes that could occur from how they were standing now.

 

“donghyuck.”

 

“yeah?” the said boy whispers, heart racing from the way jeno’s beautiful eyes are staring straight into his. _is it ok to be this close?_

 

“i hope you know that i love you more than you love your sunflowers.”

 

jeno presses his lips to donghyuck’s, and as if on cue, the sun-kissed boy wraps his arms around him, melting into the kiss as if they had done it million times before. it just felt so right. with jeno’s hands on donghyuck’s waist, and with the way their lips fit with each other, donghyuck was doing everything in him to burn this memory in his brain.  he wanted nothing but to remember standing here and kissing the boy he loved. _loved?_

 

yeah, donghyuck was head over heels for jeno.

 

jeno was his rose, and donghyuck was his sunflower, and they prayed their love would never wither.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed it!! follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jaemsbaby) & [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jaemsbaby)!!


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